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Article In: Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education: Online-First Articles

Interweaving pedagogy, content, language, and technology

Digital tools to develop bi- and multilingual disciplinary literacies in CLIL math classrooms

ORCiD logo with link | Universidad Internacional de La Rioja
 | University College Cork
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
Research in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is beginning to examine learners’ development of bi-/multilingual disciplinary literacies (BMDLs). Digital technologies play a key role in this process, yet little is known about how teachers integrate them in CLIL mathematics classrooms. This article presents a comparative case study of two secondary mathematics teachers: one in an English-medium school in Spain, the other in an Irish-medium school in Ireland. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews and resource-stimulated recall sessions, and analyzed thematically within and across cases. Findings show that tools like Desmos, GeoGebra, GimKit, and Quizlet supported distinct literacies — procedural, graphical, modeling, and terminological — but their effectiveness depended on teachers’ technological pedagogical content and language knowledge (TPCALK). While digital tools increased engagement and multimodal reasoning, their monolingual design constrained bilingual scaffolding. The study concludes that BMDL-sensitive design and explicit attention to language are essential in CLIL mathematics pedagogy and recommends further classroom-based research.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Bi- and Multilingual Disciplinary Literacies in CLIL mathematics contexts
    • 2.2Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) in CLIL contexts
  • 3.Case study contexts
  • 4.Methods
    • 4.1Participants
    • 4.2Data collection instruments
  • 5.Findings
    • 5.1Use of digital tools in CLIL mathematics classrooms to develop BMDLs
    • 5.2Teachers’ TPCALK and how it shapes their decision to use technology or not
    • 5.3Digital tools as mediators of language and the role of LK-CT in CLIL mathematics classrooms
  • 6.Discussion
    • 6.1Digital tools use and BMDLs
    • 6.2Teachers’ TPCALK and pedagogical decision-making
    • 6.3Digitally mediated language development, LK-CT and monolingual tool design
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Author queries
  • References
References (50)
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